The
Monclova Acereros
have won the first six games of their Fall 2018 schedule to take a
two-game
lead over second place Union Laguna in the Mexican League's North
Division.Under new manager Carlos
Garcia, a former Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star, the Steelers opened the
Second
Season last Tuesday with a 23-2 drubbing of the Dos Laredos Tecolotes
at home
as two-time MVP Jesse Castillo went 3-for-3 with six RBIs, including a
three-run homer off Juan Antonio Pena to key a six-run fifth inning.The Acereros scored a 5-2 victory one night
later in front of over 8,000 onlookers at Laredo's Uni-Trade Stadium,
with
Cesar Tapia's three-run longball in the top of the first giving the
visitors a
lead they'd never relinquish.The series
shifted back to Estadio Monclova to conclude the unusual
home-and-home-and-home
set for a 6-5 Steelers comeback triumph.The game swung on an unusual play in the bottom of the eighth.With one out and runners on second and third,
Tecos catcher Juan Apodaca dropped a swinging third strike pitch from
Fernando
Nieve to Cade Gotta, then threw the ball past first baseman Matt Clark
(who was
dealt to Dos Laredos by Puebla before the start of the Fall schedule)
and into
right field, scoring Rudy Amador with the tying run and Fernando Perez
with the
eventual game-winner.

Then it
was off to
Saltillo and a three-game sweep of the Saraperos, capped by a 7-3
Monclova win
Sunday as Francisco Peguero stroked three singles and a double, scored
one run
and drove in another to support starter Josh Lowey, who won his second
game
within a week despite a tepid outing of six innings in which he allowed
three
runs on eight hits.Second-place Laguna
kept pace Sunday with a 2-0 shutout in Monterrey as Leuris Gomez and
two
Algodoneros relievers combined to scatter nine hits in the whitewash to
rise to
4-2 but the week in the LMB North clearly belonged to the Acereros.In the South,the Mexico City Diablos Rojos won four of their first five
contests to
take a half-game lead over defending champion Yucatan in the standings.The Diablos won their first four games of the
Fall before losing a 3-2 home game to Oaxaca on Saturday as the
Guerreros'
Alejandro Ortiz scored the game-winner on an Alan Sanchez sacrifice fly
in the
top of the ninth.

Yucatan
catcher Sebastian
Valle is the early batting race leader with a .571 average following an
8-for-14 week while Oaxaca's Erick Rodriguez and Michael Wing of
Aguascalientes
are tied for second at .536.Wing's
Rieleros teammate Carlos Rodriguez tops the loop with four homers while
Castillo and Peguero of Monclova both have 12 RBIs to head that list
and Leon
outfielder Junior Lake's four steals are the most.Monclova ace Lowey is the only two-game
winner despite an ERA of 4.91 while unsurprisingly leading the MXL with
15 strikeouts.Several pitchers have 0.00
ERAs, with Ruddy
Acosta of Oaxaca's 6.2 innings in one start the most frames among them.Laguna closer Maikal Cleto has four saves,
two more than his nearest competitors.

If having
a second
57-game season was league president Javier Salinas' idea to boost
interest in
cities whose teams might've been also-rans by July under the
traditional
114-game schedule, that may not be how it's turning out.Tijuana has drawn 32,809 fans in three
openings but only 6,423 on Sunday while Dos Laredos did draw 8,136 in
the
Tecos' lone home game against Monclova last week but some teams are
already
struggling at the gate, none more than Campeche.The
Piratas drew gatherings of fewer than 800
for each of three games in a series against Tabasco last week.Attendance picked up at Estadio Nelson
Barrera for a weekend set with the nearby Yucatan Leones to bring
Campeche's
average to a tick above 1,000 per night, but the second season is not
selling either
there or in places like Leon, Tabasco or Aguascalientes, all of whom
are
averaging less than 2,000 thus far.

MEXICAN
NATIONALS READYING FOR GAMES
IN COLOMBIA

The
Mexican National
Team roster is being prepared for the upcoming Central American and
Caribbean
Games, to be held from July 20 through 29 in Colombia.Mexican manager Enrique "Che" Reyes
will take a squad of 24 Mexican League players to South America and Puro Beisbol reports that some
adjustments have been made in the makeup of the team, who will report
to
Monterrey for training Thursday.

The above
roster
included decent starting pitchers in Acosta, Reyes, Samayoa, Solano and
Soto, a
catcher in Valle who seems to rise to the occasion and a solid infield
but
so-so outfield.The most intriguing name
on the list is Amadeo Zazueta, who was sent in short order from Leon
back to
Monclova after the Bravos reportedly failed to make a payment to
Zazueta's
rights-owners in Monclova, who then shipped him to Dos Laredos for
pitcher Jose
Pina.Zazueta has thus far declined to
report to the Tecos after batting .356 for Leon in the Spring season,
but has
apparently agreed to suit up for the Verdes Grande in Colombia.

The
Central American and
Caribbean Games are a multisport event similar to the Olympics held
every four
years, the last occurring in 2014 in Veracruz.This will mark the 23rd time the Games have been held since its
1926
inception in Mexico City and athletes from 37 countries participating
in 40
sports will converge on Barranquilla, Colombia in less than two weeks.The 2022 games are scheduled to be held in
Panama.

DIABLOS-GUERREROS
WIN 4TH STRAIGHT
ACADEMIA AA CROWN

The
combined team of
young players from the mutually-owned Mexico City Diablos Rojos and
Oaxaca
Guerreros have won their fourth consecutive pennant in the Liga
Academia's
Class AA spring schedule, played entirely on the Mexican League Academy
grounds
near Monterrey.The Diablos-Guerreros ran
away with the pennant by turning in a 42-11 record to finish 12 games
ahead of
second place finishers Quintana Roo-Campeche and
Aguascalientes-Durango, who
both came in with 29-24 marks.In all,
eight teams co-owned by all 16 LMB franchises completed a schedule that
opened
in March and concluded on June 10, when the final week of the campaign
was
cancelled after it became apparent who was going to win the
championship.No playoffs were held.

The Diablos-Guerreros were led by a
trio of
batters who hit .333 or better during the season:Andres
Moreno (.339), Roberto Mendez (.333)
and Luis Paez (.333).Erubiel Armenta
led the team with four homers and 33 RBIs in 40 games.Starter Esteban Bloch (5-1) and swingman
Roberto Hernandez (5-0) tied for the Diablos-Guerreros lead in wins.Rodriguez had a team-high 36 strikeouts in
33.2 innings while Bloch only gave up three earned runs over 37 frames
for a
microscopic 0.73 ERA.Yucatan prospect
Abraham Tadeo Felix and Leon pitching aspirant Luis Roberto Garcia were
named
Players of the Year.Felix hit .415 with
three homers and 33 RBIs for the Leones-Algodoneros while Garcia ws
accorded
honors despite only two starts, going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 18
strikeouts in
12 innings.Guess you had to be
there.

The
so-called Liga Doble
A consists of prospects who have already played an Academy Rookie
League season
during the winter months.Although the
spring loop is given a AA designation within Mexican baseball, the
reality is
that it's more of a Class A circuit and not on an equal footing to the
North
Mexico League, which is also considered Class AA south of the border
but
contains more veterans than the Academy loop with players far more
likely to
get called up to the MXL during the season.The Academy itself opened in 1996 under the leadership of the
late Alejo
Peralta, who owned the Mexico Tigres franchise from its 1955 inception
until
his death in 1997.